Ralf HUTIN
General Director of NQI - Network Quality Intelligence
"The fact that NQI is located at Sophia Antipolis has enabled us to repatriate several French engineers and doctors from the USA, and thus help to counter the brain-drain ! After living in California, people naturally prefer to live and work in the South of France."

15/10/2004

Joseph SPATARI
General Director - Polycom
"There are many reasons why we opened an office at Sophia Antipolis. Situated at the heart of our commercial territory, ie. the southern part of EMEA (Europe-Middle East-Africa), Sophia meets our need to benefit from the mutiple access facilities offered by the region. It serves as an assembly point, and facilitates our organisation of the travelling requirements of our collaborators who are dispersed over a very vast region. Our Sophia branch also enables us to offer our clients and Certified Partners proximity services and support, which include a full demonstration platform and a team of specialists who advise on technical and commercial aspects of their tele-conferencing projects. Finally, the commercial, technological, service and industrial dynamism of the region needs no introduction. A growing number of our clients have branches on the Côte d’Azur, and the fact of being present locally is undoubtedly a major asset in the service we offer to our clientele. It also provides us with a deeper knowledge of the environment surrounding our clients’ projects, thus helping us to improve our responsiveness and the quality of our support."

15/10/2004

Colette ROGER
Chairman and Chief Executive - Smartcom
"SmartCom chose to locate in Sophia Antipolis for two reasons. The main reason is that Sophia is the leading “capital” for the telecommunication and computing technologies sector. Being close to partners and institutes within the same technological area is part of SmartCom’s strategy towards innovation and product development. Furthermore, the fact that the parent company RTE was already established in Sophia Antipolis was an added strategic encouragement for SmartCom to move the company to the same area."

14/10/2004

Robert MATHEWS
Technical Director - Europe Technologies
"We decided to locate our headquarters and design facilities in Sophia Antipolis, because we had formerly worked for Texas Instruments in nearby Villeneuve-Loubet. We also sensed, correctly it turns out, that there would be considerable growth in the microelectronics industry in this region. One result of our geographical choice is access to an increasingly large talent pool of skilled employees, both within our company and amidst our local partners. We have also been able to recruit students from institutes like the Graduate School of Engineers of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (ESINSA) and develop research agreements with the local laboratories of well-known scientific organizations like the French National Research and Scientific Center (CNRS). Besides the blossoming technical environment found on the Côte d'Azur, the general environment, high living standards and established transport infrastructure are key for companies like ours."

05/05/2004

Pascal PERU
Design Center Manager - ARM
"ARM purchased EuroMIPS Systems because it was interested in the added value provided by my company and our experienced team. But ARM also wanted to be on the Côte d'Azur because many of its customers -- like Texas Instruments, Philips and Conexant -- have important facilities here. In addition, ARM management realized that is easy to attract talented people to work here, that this is a pleasant place to live, and that our colleagues and customers enjoying coming here to meet with us."

05/05/2004

Christophe HUERRE
Director of Information Technology, Garrett Engine Boosting Systems, and the executive responsible for locating Honeywell’s European Center - Honeywell International
"We considered numerous sites in Europe – including the Netherlands, England and Ireland -- before deciding to locate our European Data Center on the Côte d’Azur in 1997. We chose Sophia Antipolis because we knew we could attract and keep skilled employees here. The park also had a high quality telecommunications infrastructure with very good service. And the area’s geographic position is simply the best available for a multinational company with activities in every European country. Our activities as a data center have been slightly modified during the past six years. Among other things, we have developed a close support agreement with IBM in La Gaude and their presence in the region turned out to be another positive reason for our choice to locate here. Between 2003 and 2005 Honeywell will continue to consolidate the activities of its national data centers and business units in various European countries at its facility in Sophia Antipolis."

25/04/2004

Gérard MILHIET
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer - Median Technologies
"Not only are there a large number of 3D image analysis specialists working at laboratories like INRIA in Sophia Antipolis, but it is also very easy to attract the world's top professionals in our field to relocate to this area. Two of our first employees, for example, were hired from New York and Paris. Indeed, the quality of life on the Côte d'Azur is extremely impressive for anyone from anywhere. And with direct flights to most major cities in Europe, Sophia Antipolis is an ideal location for building our network of clinical and scientific partners, as well as our European support center."

20/04/2004

Dr. Gianmaria MAZZUCCHELLI
Vice President and Managing Director - Newlogic Technologies
"The reason we are located in Sophia Antipolis is because our team of twelve semiconductor and software specialists, all of whom had worked with various companies in the science park, approached Austria’s NewLogic Technologies in 1999 and offered to open a specialized wireless communications development center here. We subsequently became a key part of NewLogic and today have about sixty employees in the technopole. hy Sophia Antipolis? All of the major semiconductor players are located here, which makes it very easy to recruit a talented staff. There are not only experienced engineers in our field on the Côte d’Azur, but it’s also easy to attract talent from abroad. Our customers also love to come here from anywhere in Europe for conferences, training sessions and other meetings. And they tend to bring a positive and constructive attitude with them when they arrive because of the climate and relaxed atmosphere on the Côte d’Azur. In addition, the headquarters of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is another key attraction in Sophia Antipolis and when our clients are here to visit ETSI they also drop in to see us."

26/09/2003

Jean-Marc DJIAN
Telecom Business Unit Director & Regional Director of Systems Integration - Atos Origin Integration
"We have had offices on the Côte d’Azur for almost twenty years and initially located in Nice because IBM in La Gaude was a key client. We moved to Sophia Antipolis in 1995 because the technopole had become a privileged location for advanced research and development. And we wanted to be closer to customers like Amadeus and Hewlett-Packard. We had forty employees when we first arrived in Sophia but our workforce quickly grew to 120 engineers and consultants due to of the rapid expansion of large multinational telecommunications companies and the development of local start ups. In addition, our engineers became involved in a number of pan-European R&D projects. The most positive aspect of being located in Sophia is the proximity of numerous customers who work within a few minutes of our offices. In addition, we are twenty minutes away from the Nice airport which enables us to easily visit clients in other parts of France."

26/09/2003

Pierre BRICAUD
Director of Business Development, IP & Design Services – Synopsys
"We maintained offices on the Côte d’Azur after we merged with Avant! primarily because of Sophia Antipolis and the fact that the five most important semiconductor companies in the world are located here. In addition, there are a wide variety of other established companies and start ups in the telecommunications and wireless arena in the technopole. Another influencing factor is that our engineers from California and Oregon enjoy coming here for short-term consulting jobs because the weather and environment make them feel right at home. The same attribute enables us to make our Sophia Antipolis site a focal point for training both European customers and our internal staff."

26/09/2003

Xavier BON
Vice-President of Sales and Marketing - ASK
"Sophia Antipolis, where we moved into larger and more modern offices in 2003, is an international location that features the qualified hardware, software and technical engineers we require for our development. We started the company in Aix-en-Provence, close to semiconductor manufacturing sites, but located our offices here not only because this is a central area for Europe but also because of the quality of life in this area. The decision to base both our R&D and manufacturing activities in Sophia Antipolis, which is not common among most companies in the science park, was very smart. I think it is essential for a company to have its production facilities close to the decision-making, R&D and quality control departments. The nearby international airport is also especially key for our Sophia-based sales and marketing team because they travel forty percent of the time to market, promote and sell our technology and products to public agencies and private systems integrators throughout the world. Lastly, the lack of formality on the Côte d’Azur keeps our staff relaxed and enables them to work more conscientiously."

25/09/2003

Jean-Louis BRELET
Senior Manager - Technical Market Research, Advanced Products Division - Xilinx
"I had been working at Xilinx headquarters in San Jose just before we decided to establish an office in Sophia Antipolis in September 2001. We wanted a location with easy access to the rest of Europe that was also in a center of microelectronics activity that would give us the opportunity to work with local partners and research organizations. Sophia Antipolis was our first choice and since we arrived we have been working with our partner IBM in La Gaude and have been active participants in the annual Sophia Antipolis Micro-Electronics (SAME) Forum. The California feeling and excellent weather in the French Telecom Valley were also a consideration."

25/09/2003

Bertrand POURCELOT
Director of Operations - Centile Europe
"Our broadband Internet Protocol (IP) telecommunications company was created in Sophia Antipolis as Odisei in 1998 and we have since conducted the entirety of our R&D activities here. Although five years later there are fewer large telecom players in the technopole, this is still the place we want to be because the area has a vast number of highly skilled engineers and some intriguing start ups. Ninety percent of our business during the past year was in Sweden and Finland, which are very advanced in IP telecommunications. Another reason we want to be here is to use Sophia Antipolis as a springboard for our activity in France and other European countries. These markets are just getting active in broadband communications and represent significant potential for us. An additional plus for Sophia Antipolis is that our partners and customers love coming here from anyplace in the world."

25/09/2003

Andreas MALZACH
Managing Director - Broadcom
"I had been working in Sophia Antipolis with two multinational semiconductor companies when I suggested to WIDCOMM –today BROADCOM- that they locate their European headquarters here. The Côte d’Azur made sense because of the large number of semiconductor companies with a presence in Southern France and Northern Italy. In fact, U.S. semiconductor companies seeking a European location today find that their choice is limited to Sophia Antipolis, Munich or London. Americans tend to favor Sophia because it has a ‘California spirit’ and so many of their competitors, customers and clients already have facilities here. In addition, the area features a skilled base of prospective employees, a great airport, international schools and an attractive quality of life."

01/04/2003

David MCTERNAN
General Director - TTPCOM France
"It was a mix of opportunity and serendipity that led us to create a research, development and design center for our new global wireless project in Sophia Antipolis in February 2002. A group of experienced engineers in the science park, who were seeking new opportunities, contacted us and met our stringent requirements with their expertise in software and hardware in 2.5G and 3G technologies. They soon formed the core team for our design center. We are now thriving and the science park has excellent air connections with the UK and the rest of the world – as well as a much better climate and cuisine than in Cambridge."

18/02/2003